Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: New Rift
by roxynelle
Summary: Jessa met this boy. In fact, they were in the same class for many years but just never bothered talking to each other. But the disappearance of their parents uncover a bound between them. With the help of the quiet and intimidating Matt Randell, who suffered the same lost, they will embark on a journey where escapism and fantasy will be the biggest menace.


**Hey there it's my first fic. Reviews and help for spellcheck are welcome. Roxy XoX**

"There must be more to this world", thought Jessa while reviewing her last photos on the tiny screen of her new compact camera. All she saw were the same old boring walls of her school bathing in a dull overexposed light. Nevertheless, she deciding to press on and snap as much pictures as needed to find satisfaction.

By the other side of the school's backyard, she say a boy sitting on a bench, all eyes on his cell phone. There was something mesmerizing about the stiffness of his shoulders, the agility of his fingers that were quick but not tensed. For a moment Jessa wished she could have any interest for video games. There was no helping it: she couldn't focus her mind for more than a couple of minutes on a bright screen. Everytime, she felt like her fingers, the controls, the rules, the story, the music and the graphics of a game were all sparsed in a different corner of her mind. Yet, seeing that boy on a bench was making her feel like she was missing out on some mysterious state of mind, or unaccessible emotion allowed only by being immersed in fiction. Jessa let her hand glide down her vest it reached her pocket: she felt the confident little shock-proof camera. If only she could figure the right settings to make this single picture great…

The boy sprung out of his seat, looking upset. He was furiously scrubbing the screen of his phone with his shirt: those thick snowflakes that had just started to fall might have wetted the precarious gadget. "Hey, you, girl. What's up with the camera?" Jessa couldn't find the power button in time, but yet she was holding her pocket camera while directly facing the stranger, thus putting both of them in an awkward situation. "I just wanted to test it around. I just got it, so nothing to worry about." The boy walked up to her. He still looked angry, but something in the softness of his face and in the narrowness of his body was obliterating every aspect of threat his body language could have evoked otherwise. "Let me see what you've got", said the boy, moving forward his naked palm in between he and Jessa. The girl hesitated for a minute and relentlessly gave her new possession to the asking hand, thinking of how stupid she would feel if she was dealing with a thief. But somehow she felt confident around that guy, perhaps because she knew she could beat him up on her own if things got sour. The agile hands of the boy powered up the camera in no time. He gave a quick glance to the last pictures on the memory — Jessa felt spied, but since she had nothing personal on the lot, she kept quiet — and soon he was scrolling down a setting menu Jessa had never seen before. "If you wanna take pictures that are worth the effort, you gotta learn how to work without the automated settings. There is no way around it.", and then he continued, "what do you know about Iso, obstruction speed, depth of field. Does any of these rings you a bell?" "I...I dunno", simply said Jessa. The guy proceeded in explaining every customizable option in the menu. His monologue was soft and patient, he didn't mind when Jessa asked about some more information for the concept she didn't quite get. The crash course took about ten minutes, and by then the girl had a vague idea how different features played out together, in harmony, to form the final picture. She felt a bit inadequate, having the first passerby know more about what she wanted to do as a new hobby. But she choose to believe the boy was just trying to be nice, and was not thinking bad of her in any way.

"I guess that I've already told the ABC. What do you think of immortalizing this weird snow? It would be a good way to practice your white balance." The snow was not "weird" in an on itself, but it's true it was a little bit late in the year for that, and the air was feeling way too warm. Jesse tried to find her way in the menus of the camera. She zoomed at a blank while for about ten seconds, enough for the software in the machine to calibrate the colors. She was ready. "I don't know what kind of picture I could take right now. If people don't know the date, they won't care about some old regular snow. It's only the time of the year that makes it special, but that's not the kind of things you can put on a photograph." "Don't give up too fast. There's a special light that you can only see during the summer. You are not supposed to see snowflakes under those colors." 'I'm not that good yet. And I should probably get a bigger lens if I want to capture rare colors. Otherwise on a cheap camera there will be no difference." "Well", said the boy, hesitant for the first time. For some reason Jessa felt victorious and relieved to remember she had at least — some — notions of photography. "If you don't want to focus on colors, you can improvise until you find a nice composition. Just try to recreate a strong feeling or memory." "A strong memory? About only a couple of snowflakes?" "Why not? I know my father gets very emotional every time it snows, because he had never seen that before, until he moved here. And that's the city where he met all of his friends." Jessa wondered for a second if she was being made fun of, and then decided to access her memory, for a substantial moment involving snowflakes. When her mind was set, she moved around the courtyard doing side steps and finally came back to where her new acquaintance was standing. "Promise not to laugh", she said, handing out the camera.

"Where was your father from anyway, it's gotta be from a warm country?" "Mm. He was a third culture kid. I don't think I can give a definite answer about that." The boy quickly shifted between the few new pictures Jessa had taken. "Why am I seeking his approval anyway?', she wondered. "How is it?", she asked. "That's… okay.", he replied. Jessa did not want undeserved praised, but at the same time who thought she deserved a more substantial review. She felt like this interaction was an elaborate waste of time. "Well, thanks for your help, but I think I'll have to practice some more before I can apply everything you told me". "No problem. Maybe we can add each other on facebook? So I can see your progress." Jessa wasn't sure if it was such a good idea, and the boy seemed to notice: "If you change your mind, just look for me. Clef Radiju." There was no way she could remember that last name, but 'Clef' was a singular enough first name to narrow the search.

"Okay. Thanks, bye", said Jessa. She could have stayed a little longer, but there was an awkward vibe out there. Perhaps as much because of the conversation than because of the unexpected snow. "If you look for me it's Jessa Malheur", yelled the girl above her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't regret her impulsivity.


End file.
